North Korea Watch 2017

I am sure that everyone here at ATS will be relieved by the following report:

NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is expected to arrive in North Korea Tuesday, according to two officials in that country who spoke to CNN. CNN
spotted Rodman at Beijing International Airport, where he declined to answer questions.

Rodman would be arriving in Pyongyang at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Pyongyang, which is currently detaining four Americans.
It's unclear what the purpose of Rodman's visit to the secretive country could be, but the eccentric former basketball player -- and a former
contestant on Donald Trump's pre-presidency reality TV show "Celebrity Apprentice" -- is one of the only Americans to have met current North Korean
Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

When asked by CNN journalists in Pyongyang, unnamed North Korean officials confirmed that Rodman is expected to arrive in Pyongyang Tuesday. They gave
no further details.

Nah, Rodman is safer there than he would be in downtown Chicago I'd bet.

The scary thing to remember is that Rodman has more face time with Kim than pretty much anyone in the U.S. Certainly more than people in Washington,
including the past few presidents. It's not his first trip there.

Rodman has also done a few interesting interviews on his past visit there. I mean, he's not my choice to be any type of ambassador heh. But he's
also provided info that our intelligence services didn't know, like the fact and name of Kim's daughter.

His last visit he apparently received some veiled threats and push back from the govt here, according to his interviews. This trip I'd wager that the
U.S gov is a bit more supportive of the endeavor.

If I was Rodman, I'd be concerned about what would happen should Lil' Kim suddenly turn on me. He ordered the killing of many people including
members of his own family. Imho, Lil' Kim wouldn't think twice about doing harm to Rodman should they have a "parting of ways," so to speak.

It's hard to understand his reasons behind this trip. No one could pay me enough to go to NK. No one.

The Worm show up and they release the student jailed for trying to steal a propaganda poster?! Magic 8 ball says, "likely."

What gets me is he get botulism and they gave him a sleeping pill! That is like giving a kid aspirin for a fever. How could he just get botulism while
under state control??

Something stinks and it isn't the rotten food fed to that student while in jail.

Between this and the constant threats against the US and our allies, I am disgusted that the Trump Administration isn't doing anything to neutralize
this threat.

If I was Potus, the military would have attacked by now.

That poor young man was stuck there for a year and our gov't did nothing? Not to mention others that are being unlawfully held?

What's wrong with our gov't - they keep giving Lil' Kim more time to attack us. Contrary to what some have claimed, NK can reach Alaska and Hawaii
with their missiles. And even if they had no nukes whatsoever (but they do), NK still has plenty of chemical and biological weapons with which to
wreak havoc.

We need to get this young man home asap and do whatever it takes to help him recover, including a battery of toxicology tests to see what those
###$$## gave him.

We need to attack NK now and get it over with before they get us or our allies. Especially before we are nuked or EMP'd to kingdom come.

That is two soldiers in a week to defect. They average about one a year. The Han river is a fast moving, relatively wide, river. What must the
conditions be inside the country to even attempt this? He would be a target from the shore the trip across.

The diplomat who defected last year said that there would be more defections including high ranking officials.

That is two soldiers in a week to defect. They average about one a year. The Han river is a fast moving, relatively wide, river. What must the
conditions be inside the country to even attempt this? He would be a target from the shore the trip across.

The diplomat who defected last year said that there would be more defections including high ranking officials.

Two defections in such a short period of time probably means that conditions in NK are worsening.

Weird thing is, with rampant starvation of the populace and oppression on top of that, one would think that Lil' Kim would have been ousted by now.

Lil' Kim's father seemed to make a point of stirring things up whenever the world's attention was diverted elsewhere. With how Russia is reacting to
our downing of the Syrian jet, it wouldn't surprise me if Kim decides to fire off another missile or two - just to see how Trump will react.

I wish that Trump & Co. would take this threat seriously. Lil' Kim's father was mostly bluster. His son seems bent on destroying everyone around him
should he not get his way.

I was hopping that North Korea could be dealt with diplomatically. I'm no longer sure it can.

Invasion would not be very wise. The place is hilly as all get out all the way from the shore to the capital. Up one side, down the other, up again...
all the way there. In winter, it gets colder than h3ll there. Bombing? Ah h3ll, I don't even want to speculate any longer. No use hyping up war and
rumors of war. I'm over that.

Otto Warmbier, the American student who was detained and held in North Korea before being returned back to the U.S. earlier this month, has died
according to his family. He was 22 years old. “It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey home,” Fred and
Cindy Warmbier wrote in a statement. “Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2:20 pm.”

I'd like the Trump Administration to actually do something about his death. NK should be held accountable for what happened to Otto, and whatever
happened to our other citizens being illegally held.

Kim Jong Un has blood on his hands, and if our gov't doesn't take action they are just as guilty, imo, as Lil' Kim. Otto should never have been
abandoned by our gov't. I am concerned the others are suffering the same fate.

I was hopping that North Korea could be dealt with diplomatically. I'm no longer sure it can.

Invasion would not be very wise. The place is hilly as all get out all the way from the shore to the capital. Up one side, down the other, up again...
all the way there. In winter, it gets colder than h3ll there. Bombing? Ah h3ll, I don't even want to speculate any longer. No use hyping up war and
rumors of war. I'm over that.

Still not sure how or what to do so I will keep watch!

Invasion may not be necessary. Decapitation strike may be enough. Un rules through fear. From what we've heard from defectors over the years, the top
military leaders aren't big fans of the Kims. Once he is dead, I doubt they'd fight a suicidal war with the US to avenge him. We could simultaneously
hit their nuclear facilities and chem/bio weapons stockpiles just in case they do decide to retaliate. The population may be suicidally devoted
because they've been so thoroughly indoctrinated, but like most dictators Un doesn't allow his citizens to be armed.

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